


Dysfunctional

by annabymilton



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Autistic Castiel, Crowley is a dick, Gabriel has an Eating Disorder, IN WHICH JOHN WINCHESTER ISNT PERFECT BUT HES NOT ABUSIVE FIGHT ME, Multi, Not Beta Read, Original Character(s), but - Freeform, chuck is absent but hes not a dick, hes in recovery dont worry, in the second chapter i make a very terrible ref to megs death im so sorry, it makes me cry, kali and gabriel are bffs, kevin is a sweetie, kind of, meg and cas are bffs, theres two, theyre not major characters, this may forever be in progress, well not rlly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2015-02-22
Packaged: 2018-03-14 14:58:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3415010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annabymilton/pseuds/annabymilton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chuck Novak had left his kids behind after their mother left Chuck for some actor and in his absence the kids were left behind to take care of themselves. After four years without him, Chuck shows back up at their house with no explanation, not aware of all the changes that had happened since he left. Castiel is no longer a child, Gabriel works at a candy store, Anna has moved out along with Raphael, Lucifer is resentful, Samandriel barely remembers him, and Micheal is used to being in charge. Needless to say, things don't immediately go back to normal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Something I wrote last summer, pretty much shameless self indulgence. As with Time of Death, I'll update when I can but I don't know when that will be.

4 Years Ago

Micheal didn't know waking up that morning that anything would be different. Samandriel, Castiel, and Gabriel would walk to grade school together with the three Winchester boys down the road then Anna would make lunches for herself and Balthazar since they would have Freshman home room early that day. Micheal would wake up Lucifer on the other side of the room and remind him of his homework while making breakfast for Lucifer and Dad-- who would wake up late after staying up until midnight writing a piece for his publisher. Lucifer would procrastinate on his online college courses. That's how every morning went in the Novak household.

At first, the day followed the usual pattern. Samandriel talked very sleepily about his very important second grade classes, nodding to reassure himself he had gotten the details right. Castiel was quiet as ever, reading the comic book Gabriel had lent him and occasionally commenting on the project Samandriel was raving about while they waited for Gabriel to throw together the last bit of his science fair project. This year, it was titled "Bubble Gum-- Just How Gummy is It?" and Gabriel had chewed all of the free samples.

Soon enough the boy in Castiel's grade, Sam, knocked on the door, his older brother Dean standing behind him and little brother Adam half hanging off his arm. So off went the three youngest brothers. Right on time, Anna started on her and Rapheal's lunches-- Balthazar had decided to buy lunch that day--, straight red hair back into a neat ponytail. They shook off how odd it was that they hadn't heard their father stir or grumble or even really seen the tell tale whiskey bottle by the kitchen sink that normally meant he had stayed up-- their father was strange, so what was this bit more of oddness? Anna, Balthazar and Rapheal left, getting a ride from Raphael's lab partner Lilith.

Micheal took over the kitchen now that it was empty and the other two had left, Lucifer already stirring awake. He turned on the radio to the classical station he used for cooking that made Lucifer get up entirely to storm into the kitchen once he'd woken their dad and gripe that Micheal was the most boring twenty year-old on planet earth. Once Micheal had made the bacon, he realized normally by now Lucifer was in here and, curious as to what was holding him up, he walked out into the hallway down to the bedrooms. In the doorway to Dad's room he saw Lucifer, standing and staring in confusion.

It was eerie, how their father's room looked. The dirty off-white carpet looked the same as it ever did, but everything else was oddly clean, cleaner than it had been in a long while. And it took only a moment to realize it was because the contents of the room were gone, leaving behind only the furniture; the closet was empty, the suitcase missing, everything empty and spotless except for a single piece of paper on the bed and-- now-- the spatula Micheal had been holding on the ground. Slowly, Micheal walked forward and grabbed the piece of paper, starting to read it out loud. "I'm sorry I have to leave like this, but I can't be here anymore. I'll miss you all, tell the younger ones I'm on a trip. I don't know when I'll be back."

The twins were quiet for a moment, Lucifer staring at the edge of the paper and Micheal staring at the words in disbelief. And then Lucifer turned into a whirlwind, a blinding spiral of rage and blinding anger, letting out a shout out of "That DICK."

He pulled each drawer out, throwing them against the walls hard enough to break the plastic infused wood, throwing the empty shell down onto the ground. By the time he was done with the room, all the remaining furniture was on the ground and as broken as he could make them. Micheal hadn't moved from where he was, reading the note and rereading it in an attempt to make some sort of sense out of the mess.

The two of them were still in the room when the others got back from school. They were sitting next to each other on the foot of what had once been Dad's bad, Lucifer shaking and saying, as though in a trance, how he would kill him if he ever dared to come back. How he was considering trying to find out where he had gone just to punch him in the face for leaving his kids like this, just like how their mom had left them for that actor on Doctor Sexy or whatever the shit show was. Micheal had made them sandwiches, eating his own in dead silence he couldn't stand to break.

When Anna let the others in to see burning bacon on the stove and mayonnaise still sitting on the counter, she knew something was up. Carefully, she told the kids to stay in the living room as she walked down the main hall in an attempt to find Lucifer and Micheal. Once she did, she frowned and asked, "Where did Dad go? What happened in here?"

Micheal's head spun at the questions. He didn't know where Dad went, he didn't even really had a guess as to where he could have gone just that he wasn't there and might never be back. And as to what had happened? His brother, the one who could normally keep his head, seemed to have lost his mind, throwing and breaking everything in sight in a deep seated fit of anger and who could really blame him? All he could say was a shaking, "Dad left. He left us."

Anna called the family meeting, everyone placed around the couch where Micheal and Lucifer were. Lucifer had settled down into just a sullen silence, choosing not to say a word and instead let Micheal talk. Let Micheal explain that Dad had left like Mom had and now they were on their own, that they would still have to go to school and no they wouldn't be able to write to Dad because they didn't know where he was. It didn't take long for Samandriel to break down crying, loud, crowing sobs that were juvenile even for the eight year old. Castiel had started repeating under his breath, blue eyes big and fearful, "No no no." Gabriel was trying to rub his back to relax him but his own hand was shaking.

They really were alone now.


	2. Samandriel (Day 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> if school related stuff stresses you, i suggest skipping to the end or something you aren't missing much other than character introductions and developments
> 
> that being said i love this chapter fight me

Samandriel had grown to hate the shitty pop song his older brother Gabriel played every morning at six AM-- he could never quite tell what song it was but it was loud and it was peppy and it was coming out of an old Avengers alarm clock Gabriel insisted on keeping despite the fact he was now seventeen and therefore too old for a cartoon alarm clock. Hell, Samandriel was twelve and he thought that he was too old for it, even, being almost done with his sixth grade year. Four years, now, four years from that day and yet he still measured time in the spaces before and after despite the fact he had few vivid memories left. New ones had replaced the old ones; whiskey scented hugs replaced with a hair ruffle from Lucifer and awkward I-love-you's replaces with Micheal giving him an extra slice of bacon at breakfast the day of a big test.

The extra slice of bacon never seemed to help, though. Whenever Samandriel studied, everything still ended up a little mixed up in his head and came out wrong on the homework or test or quiz. Apparently, his teacher suggested to Micheal that they get him a tutor but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon considering how little money the family was running off of-- only Micheal's desk job and Lucifer's barista gig and the occasional extra from Gabriel taking up whatever odd jobs were available in the neighborhood. Mr. Singer said something about finding a volunteer, but who would work for no pay? It just wouldn't make sense.

So Samandriel had little hope left as he dragged himself out for breakfast, his short brown hair messy and sticking straight up. He had spent even less time than usual getting read that morning, his uniform button up half untucked from the navy trousers, his teeth still not brushed since Gabriel was hogging the bathroom to try to do his hair correctly. Samandriel couldn't tell the difference between Gabriel's hair "done" and undone, to be perfectly honest. But, hey, at least today was Thurday which meant it was waffles day in the Novak houeshold-- Samandriel loved waffles more than any of the other breakfast foods.

Castiel always left early, he was so often already gone in the mornings by the time Samandriel woke up, getting rides with one of his friends no one had ever met. Today was like the other days, meaning Castiel was gone and it was just Samandriel at the table, Lucifer on the laptop, Micheal cooking, and Gabriel in the bathroom. Samandriel decided he wasn't hungry and stood up, walking over to the bathroom, calling, "Gabriel will you hurry up? I want to get to school early."

Gabriel called, sounding crabby from the other side of the door, "You can't rush perfection, Alfie!"

Personally, Samandriel kind of liked the nickname that nobody but Gabriel called him. Samandriel's middle name was Alfred and after a while Gabriel had taken to calling him Alfie, saying he was too old for the kind of name he was given. Personally, he didn't agree but that didn't mean he didn't appreciate his brother's gesture of giving him a name that nobody else called him by. But now wasn't the time for reflection, he wanted to get to school early so that he could last minute study-- he was friends with Kevin and if anyone could help him pass it from cramming last minute it would be that kid. "I need to meet Kevin to study for the history test, Gabriel."

With a loud sigh, Gabriel remarked, "I supposed my hair will have to do as is." He opened the door, still fidgeting with the ends. Samandriel was thrown off by how quick Gabriel was to throw an arm over him and pull him down the hall. As they walked out to the door, Gabriel stopping to grab the keys to the car that had been Raphael's before he left, he called back, "We're leaving early, Mikey, see you later."

The car ride to drop Samandriel off at Upper Hills Grade School was a silent one, at least on Samandriel's part; Gabriel talked about studying for the SAT's but Samandriel didn't feel like talking. He was a bit too stressed about the whole History test thing he hadn't studied for; he had been up until nearly midnight trying to put it off and now here he was clutching his Batman backpack and praying the Kevin would help him. Kevin always did, the boy was a sweetheart and would do anything to try to find a way for his friend to somehow end up in his honors classes he was starting next year in eighth grade.

Speaking of Kevin, here he was on the steps of the school, head in a book. Their friend, Adam in the grade below them, was sitting next to him, his threadbare blue backpack's contents spread out on the stairs. Samandriel threw back a quick see-you-later to Gabriel as he scattered over to the gray stairs to join his friends. Adam seemed half asleep, flicking through some sort of mythology book he had no doubt stolen from his brother-- Sam loved all of the fantasy stories with weird monsters and magic and so in Adam's attempt to be like his older brother, so did he.

Sitting down one step below them and shrugged his backpack off so it thumped and fell sideways as an awkward bridge over two of the steps. Kevin looked up from his Life Science book after a moment, having to finish the sentence, before greeting Samandriel, "Hey, you're here early."

Samandriel stretched a bit having to hold back a yawn before replying, "I could say the same for you two."

Adam doggy-eared his book, which made Kevin wince, before setting it aside on the stairs to answer him. Simply, Adam said, "Sam had a thing before class so he had to drop me off early. I have an excuse. Kevin is just an idiot."

Kevin remarked, glancing back at Adam, "An idiot with straight A's"

The blonde chided, "Except for in Gym. You said you only have a B in Gym."

And that's how most of the day went. Boring classes Samandriel spent trying to keep notes that seemed coherent, but he always seemed to get distracted and end up doodling drawings of superheroes he was too old for in the margins. He had a dry ham sandwich at lunch, last minute studying with Kevin while Adam griped about his only time with his friends being wasted because of something as lame as the "By Zahn Teen or whatever Empire". 

He was almost sick of all the five syllable words the whatever's had in their culture-- Mayans? Personally, he thought it was ridiculous that they were tested on something so complicated when he was only in sixth grade; although, he would never admit it. The test didn't make much more sense even with the small amount he had studied, his mind kept wandering and latching onto something like how weird the font Mr. Singer used on the tests was. Comic Sans? Who does that? But he had to admit it was softer on the eyes and far less intimidating than any of the other fonts the other teachers used.

After the test was over and done with, the last two classes of the day went by quickly. Samandriel was just relieved he had gotten the test over and done with. Sitting in homeroom, Samandriel listened to the afternoon announcements, hearing which sports teams won what tournament and which clubs he wasn't in had meetings after school that day before they continued with people who had to meet with Mrs. Harvelle, the principal, after school. "....and Samandriel Novak. That's all, have a good night."

Samandriel honestly didn't know what the Principal would want to see him for and Adam asked him just that as they scattered down the tiled stairs to the lobby. "Dude, what do you think she wants?"

He just shook his head a bit and sighed, "I told you, Adam, I don't know."

Adam rolled his eyes but stopped with Samandriel outside of the office door. "I'll wait for you so we can walk home. I need to know what happens."

Samandriel nodded, "Yeah, I'll try to make it quick." Before opening the heavy wooden door and stepping in. Ellen Harvelle sat behind a pale wood desk, reading glasses awkwardly perched on her nose, dusty brown hair in a ponytail with the occasional gray wisp slipping out. An older girl of around twenty with messy red hair sat in one of the two chairs facing the desk in silence. Awkwardly, Samandriel asked, "You wanted to see me?"

Mrs. Harvelle looked up from what appeared to be student registration paperwork and nodded, taking her glasses off and setting them aside on the desk. With a smile, she said, "Yes, Samandriel, sit down." Once he complied, she continued, "I'd like you to meet Miss Irvin. She will tutoring you now, no charge. Before you say anything, she volunteered."

Nervously, he smiled and said, "Oh. Oh that is, um, great. Really. Th-thank you!" 

The girl smiled and nodded, "It's nothing, really. How about tomorrow after school we meet in the library?" Once Samandriel nodded, the girl excused herself with a word about family dinner and Samandriel followed closely behind.

"So, what was it?" Adam asked excitedly, his smile bright and curious as he followed Samandriel's walk outside to start walking home.

Samandriel answered, "Apparently someone volunteered to tutor me."

Adam just nodded and they walked the rest of the way in relative silence aside from agreeing to hang out at Samandriel's today instead of Adam's. Although once they walked up to Samandriel's house to see Castiel and Gabriel sitting on the steps and the sound of muffled yelling, they knew that wasn't going to happen. Gabriel was slumped, his head resting on his knees while Castiel was pacing, irritably. Carefully, Samandriel asked, "What's going on."

Gabriel looked up and said simply, "It looks like Daddy Dearest decided to come back."


	3. Castiel (Day 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> vague references to abuse, nothing specific or even solid (it can be seen as just meg being moody and not liking azazel)

Castiel was an early riser-- always had been. He would wake up two hours before his older brother's alarm, get ready and go downstairs for a bowl of cereal before the others had even thought of opening their eyes. Personally, he thought the morning was something too beautiful to be taken for granted, so he spent most of his time in the morning walking slowly down sidewalks and winding around, lazily making his way towards the school. He had taken to photography lately, trying to capture the perfect snapshots of his little walks. Lately, there had been: a pure white butterfly in air, a sunrise when the sky was all pastel, and-- his personal favorite-- a small ladybug on the school wall.

That morning he went through the same usual rituals he always did. He threw on his uniform first, and raked a hand through his hair, deciding that that was good enough for the day when it came to the whole grooming thing other than the necessities like brushing his teeth. From there, he could move on to going downstairs for breakfast. It was a tough choice, staring down the two boxes of cereal and trying to decided if that day would be a Fruit Loops day or a Cheerios day. On one hand, Cheerios were much healthier and on the other Fruit Loops made the water look pinkish and Castiel thought that was pretty. So naturally, he ended up sitting at the wooden table with a bowl of Fruit Loops with milk and a small baggie with plain Cheerio's he decided to eat on his walk.

He slung his camera's wrist strap around his write and looked around, double checking that he had everything he would need for the day, his plain blue backpack slung over his shoulder and the small baggy of Cheerios in his brown coat's pocket. Slowly, he walked out, taking his time to walk through the early morning, snapping pictures of the flowers and the sky, letting the morning air seep into skin. Soon enough, he reached his friend's house, waiting for her to come out to finish the walk to school. He and Meg had been friends for a while, despite how completely different they were but for some reason the self declared punk who constantly called Castiel "Clarence" and terrorized his next door neighbors had stuck as a friend and he wasn't about to give that up. It was good they had gotten past the awkward phase of eighth grade where he was constantly trying to kiss Meg, because otherwise they might have had a bit of a problem.

Meg walked out to the fence then, yelling something vaguely inappropriate to her brother Tom who complained about her grabbing the bigger lunch bag. Once she walked over, she sighed, running a hand through her messy brunette hair before saying bluntly, "I'm your daughter."

Castiel frowned at her wordlessly as they started walking, falling into time with each other. He had gotten used to her conversations picking up at random points where her thoughts were, so he knew there would be some kind of explanation. With a sigh, Meg explained, "Dad is being an ass."

He nodded then, figuring out she meant for him to adopt her because she was sick of home. Absently, he replied, "I assumed you did not mean that I conceived you."

Meg joked, elbowing him in the ribs lightly, "Why? Because of you're endlessly state as a virgin?"

Castiel hesitated, narrowing his eyes at her in reply. He said dully, "No, because you're older than me." Which almost immediately shut Meg up.

Most of the rest of the walk was a quiet nice sort of silence of them, Meg occasionally taking a handful of his Cheerio's or dragging him over to something for him to take a picture of her with. She decided her favorite of her was the one where she ran up into someone's yard and pretended to kiss a lawn gnome, refusing to leave the private property until Cas took a photo of the incident. He had to admit it was kind of funny, even if they were about a minute away from getting the police called on them.

When they finally did get to the school, Meg followed him to his locker, remarking, "You know, Clarence, it really isn't fair that we don't have any classes together. You're way too young to be in as advanced of a math class as you are."

Castiel shrugged, grabbing his book. "I enjoy math. It makes sense." Seeing the face Meg made at that, he added, "It's not my fault Mr. Crowley calls you a demon child. You /did/ try to set his car on fire."

Meg rolled her eyes, grumbling, "That does not mean he can stab my math grade in the stomach."

Frowning at her, Castiel remarked, "That is not a metaphor I expected."

With a grin, Meg joked, "I'm full of surprises. See you at lunch, I gotta get to Chem."

Most of the day was normal, the routine that Castiel always went through. He went to Pre-Calc with the only other sophomore in that class and one of his few friends-- Sam Winchester. The classes passed by in a blur of routine, class after class. At lunch, Meg stole Skittles off of Castiel's brother Gabriel's plate as Sam helped him with English and discovering the themes in To Kill a Mockinbird before deciding to switch to instead bugging Cas about Sam's older brother.

And then lunch was over and Castiel lost himself in taking notes for the remaining three classes. He was the sort of student who liked taking a break from thinking about everything-- in this case, the fact he saw Lucifer packing that morning and was having shaking flashes to when he was eleven and saw the same thing happening with his father. But that wasn't for him to think about or at least it wasn't something he wanted to think about since it seemed he was the only one who knew.

After class was a different ballgame, however. He waited on the steps to walk home with the Winchesters as usual, relaxing slightly when he saw Sam and his older brother, Dean, who was a senior. Dean flashed a grin when he saw Castiel and said, "Hey, Cas."

Looking up slightly to meet Dean's eyes, Castiel replied with a simple, "Hello, Dean."

Sam cleared his throat awkwardly, "Um, Cas, do you know where your brother is? He's supposed to walk home with us today."

As though he was summoned, Gabriel walked through the doors to the outside in his usual overly flamboyant fashion. He moonwalked out, for real, convincing his friend Kali to open the doors for him before tripping on a rock and having to catch himself. "Hello, boys."

Dean rolled his eyes and started walking without so much as looking back at the others except to call, "Cas, you coming?"

Castiel caught up, falling into step with Dean and ignoring the faint sound of their respective brother's chattering behind them. The afternoon was pretty to Castiel, the sky a softening blue with painted on clouds moving slowly across the blue. Stopping to pull out his camera, Castiel looked up and snapped a photo. Dean hesitated, glancing back at him before asking, "What are you doing?"

Slightly embarrassed, Cas looked back at Dean. Quietly, he answered, "I like photography."

Dean frowned a bit and nodded at that, tipping his head to the side slightly before asking, "Do you ever take photos of people?"

Castiel looked down at the camera in his hands, fidgeting with it slightly before answering, "I haven't before. No one has ever really asked about it."

At that, Dean just nodded, letting silence fall over them again as they went back to walking side by side. Castiel studied Dean, noticing how his dark blonde hair caught the light from the sun like a halo but nervously he shook off the thought. All too soon, they reached the Novak's front door. Dean patted Cas' arm awkwardly and said, "See you tomorrow. Maybe you can take a picture of me." He flashed a smile.

Castiel nodded. Sam said to Castiel, "See you in math tomorrow."

And then they were gone. Gabriel scattered up the stairs to the front door, Castiel trailing behind him. Neither of them took much note of the muffled yelling, both of them used to Micheal and Lucifer getting into fights. But when Gabriel opened the door, the dialogue of the fight echoed out so they could hear it.

"Lucifer, I just want to talk to you." Said a somewhat calm sounding voice that was all too familiar.

Loudly, Lucifer yelled back, "You lost that right when you fucking left your kids with nothing but a note. and guess what? I'm leaving now too."

Gabriel quickly shut the door. staring at the door knob. Castiel went silent, feeling thrown off and scared by the fact that he heard both his father and a confirmation of what he thought was nothing but his own fear. Gabriel said quietly, "Well, fuck." Before sitting down on the step.

Castiel started pacing, trying to walk off everything that was crowding in his head. He didn't want to lose anyone else; even if Lucifer was kind of a jerk, family was family and right now everything in his was turning into a mess. Around that time, Samandriel got home and nervously asked, voice wary, "What's going on?"

Bitterly, Gabriel answered, "It looks like Daddy Dearest decided to come back."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: thank you for everyone still reading this?? it's been about a year and-- thank you pills and therapy-- i might be able to update it soon!! thank you for all the positive comments come yell at me on my tumblr http://lwcifer.tumblr.com/


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